Stress and health

Notes – Stress and Health Psychology.pptx… (Overview)

Page 1–2: Health Psychology & Stress

Health Psychology – The field of psychology that studies how behavior and mental processes influence physical health and illness. It focuses on wellness and illness prevention.
Stress – A nonspecific bodily response to any demand placed on it. It varies from person to person.
Eustress – Pleasant or beneficial stress (e.g., from exercise).
Distress – Negative or harmful stress (e.g., from illness or conflict).
Stressors – External events or stimuli that cause stress; can be major (e.g., a job loss) or minor (e.g., traffic).
Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) – A tool developed by Holmes and Rahe to measure stress levels based on life events and predict the likelihood of illness.

Page 3: Daily Stress and Conflict

Chronic Stress – Long-lasting stress where one feels overwhelmed by constant demands.
Hassles – Minor irritations or inconveniences that can build up and become major stress sources.
Frustration – A negative emotion experienced when a goal is blocked.
Uplifts – Small, positive experiences that bring joy and help balance out hassles.
Conflict – The mental struggle when choosing between incompatible or competing demands or goals.

Page 4: Fight or Flight Response

Fight or Flight Response – The body's automatic reaction to a threat, activated by the hypothalamus through the sympathetic nervous system.
Parasympathetic Nervous System – Calms the body after the fight-or-flight response is triggered.
Tend and Befriend – A stress response pattern more common in women, where they care for others (tend) and form support networks (befriend).

Page 5: SAM, HPA, Cortisol, and General Adaptation Syndrome

Cortisol – A stress hormone. In the short term, it impairs memory. Long-term exposure damages the hippocampus, affecting memory and stress regulation.
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) – A model of the body's response to stress, developed by Hans Selye. Includes stages of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Page 6: Personality and Stress

Type A Personality – Characterized by competitiveness, time urgency, anger, and hostility. More prone to stress-related illness.
Type B Personality – Relaxed, patient, and less aggressive—less prone to stress-related issues.
Hardiness – A personality trait that helps individuals resist stress by maintaining commitment, a sense of control, and viewing stress as a challenge.

Page 7: Coping and Stress Management

Social Support – The network of people who offer emotional and practical help; helps buffer stress.
Material Resources – Physical or financial resources that reduce stress (e.g., access to healthcare, food).
Personal Control – The belief in one's ability to influence outcomes in life.
Internal Locus of Control – Believing you are responsible for your own fate; linked to better coping and health outcomes.
External Locus of Control – Believing that external forces or chance dictate life events.
Active Coping – Doing something to reduce stress, like exercise or meditation.

What is Stress

AI notes/definitions

(Continuing list from previous file – starts at #26)

Page: What Is Stress and How Does It Occur? pg 1

Psychological Stress Response – Emotional or mental reactions to a stressor, such as feeling nervous or alarmed.
Physiological Stress Response – Bodily reactions like increased heart rate or blood pressure when facing a stressor.
Hans Selye – An endocrinologist who defined stress as the nonspecific response of the body to any demand. He distinguished between stressors (the cause) and stress (the response). Selye studied cortisol, a stress hormone.
Endocrine System – A system of glands that release hormones into the bloodstream. Responsible for physiological reactions to stress.
Cortisol – A hormone released by the adrenal glands during stress; helps regulate bodily responses to stress.
Operational Definition – A clear, measurable definition of a term (important in research). The term "stressor" is hard to define consistently in scientific studies.
Individual Differences in Stress – People react differently to stress depending on age, gender, personality, and life experiences.
Racial Stress – Racism can cause psychological harm such as hyperarousal, alienation, and fear of future harm. (Cited: Gomez et al., 2024)
External Stressors – Stressors that come from the environment (e.g., homework, traffic).
Internal Stressors – Stress caused by thoughts or emotions (e.g., guilt, fear, insecurity).
Distress – Negative stress that results from harmful or unpleasant stressors (e.g., cramming for an exam while sleep-deprived).
Eustress – Positive or beneficial stress, often experienced as motivating or energizing.

Human notes

Stress has several definitions

Emotion
A force that needs to be resisted
A behavior

(is relative to individuals; on a spectrum)

Stressors are different from how we react to them…

A stressor is an agent that produces stress

Stress and Your Health

Ai overview

Pg #1

Sympathetic Nervous System – A branch of the autonomic nervous system that activates the body's emergency response (e.g., increases blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing; dilates pupils).
Parasympathetic Nervous System – The branch of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body after a crisis (e.g., slows heart rate and lowers blood pressure).
Autonomic Nervous System – Controls involuntary body functions like heartbeat and digestion; includes both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

Notes – Stress and Health Psychology (Continued) #2

Starting at #41

Hypothalamus – A brain structure that initiates the fight-or-flight response by activating the sympathetic nervous system and the HPA axis.
Catecholamines – Stress hormones released by the adrenal glands during the fight-or-flight response.

Includes epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
Cause increases in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration.

Freeze Response – A survival reaction where the body remains motionless when faced with threat.

Associated with midbrain activation and slowed heart rate.
May serve as a decision-making phase before fight-or-flight.

Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal (HPA) Axis – A system that responds to stress by: Hypothalamus
Hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland.
Pituitary signals the adrenal cortex.
Adrenal cortex releases corticosteroids (like cortisol).

Works alongside the sympathetic nervous system.

Cortisol – A corticosteroid hormone that supports the stress response and suppresses immune function when elevated long-term.
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) – A model by Hans Selye (1936) describing the body’s predictable response to prolonged stress.

Stage 1: Alarm – Immediate fight-or-flight response.
Stage 2: Resistance – Continued arousal with reduced sensitivity to new stressors.
Stage 3: Exhaustion – Resources depleted, increasing vulnerability to illness and death.

Diseases of Adaptation – Stress-related conditions (e.g., hypertension, arthritis) that may appear during the resistance stage of GAS.

Notes – Stress and Health Psychology (Continued) #3

Starting at #48

Cortisol (continued) – A steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex in response to stress; useful for short-term emergencies, but harmful when elevated long-term.
Effects of Prolonged Cortisol Exposure in Children:

May lead to premature birth, low birth weight, and cognitive or behavioral difficulties.
Linked to family conflict and authoritarian parenting.
Chronic cortisol elevation in childhood may cause future health problems.

Effects of Cortisol on College Students:

Interferes with working memory and math performance, especially in students with high math anxiety.
Students with low anxiety and good working memory may actually benefit from temporary cortisol elevation.

Cortisol and Emotion Perception – Elevated cortisol levels increase the likelihood of interpreting ambiguous expressions as negative.

Notes-Stress and Health Psychology (continued) #4

45. Immune System

The body’s defense against disease, involving spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow, and white blood cells.

46. Macrophages

"Big eaters" that consume invaders and worn-out body cells.

47. Natural Killer (NK) Cells

Destroy infected body cells and release proteins to prevent infection spread.

48. Lymphocytes

B lymphocytes (mature in bone marrow) produce antibodies to block bacteria.
T lymphocytes (mature in thymus) fight cancer, viruses, and other invaders.
Stress weakens lymphocyte activity, increasing disease susceptibility.

49. Gastric Ulcers

Cau
sed by both stress and H. pylori bacteria, along with factors like smoking, family history, and NSAIDs (e.g., aspirin).

50. Cancer and Stress

Stress suppresses T lymphocytes and NK cells, reducing tumor monitoring.
Long-term stress may be associated with cancer development, but evidence is mixed.

51. Stress Duration Effects – (Based on Dhabhar, Segerstrom & Miller)

Short-term stress (5–100 mins): boosts immune cell activity.
Long-term stress (e.g., military service, caregiving): decreases NK cells.

52. Heart Disease and Stress

Stressors like job strain, natural disasters, and social-evaluative threats can raise blood pressure and cardiovascular risk.
Atherosclerosis: disease with artery wall damage, increased by stress, cholesterol, smoking; may cause heart attacks or strokes.

53. Psychoneuroimmunology

Field studying the link between psychology, the nervous system, and immune system.
Chronic stress raises risk for inflammation-related illnesses: asthma, arthritis, MS.
Early childhood stress may leave lasting inflammatory effects ("biological scar").

Human overview

Constant exporsure to an stimlutant leads to later “numbing of this stimlutan”t… or the changing in reacting in a fight-or-flight

Can You Deal?

Ai

#1

57. Burnout – Emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by chronic exposure to stress and challenges. Leads to reduced motivation, performance, and well-being (McCormack et al., 2018; McFadden et al., 2018; Nazir et al., 2018).

58. Health Psychology – The study of how biological, psychological, and social factors influence health and illness. Focuses on behaviors like diet, exercise, and social support.

59. Biopsychosocial Perspective – A model used in health psychology to understand how biology, psychology, and social interactions together influence health outcomes.

60. Biological Stressors – Examples include viral or bacterial infection and physically demanding jobs that exhaust the body’s resources (Fritz et al., 2024).

61. Psychological Stressors – Includes negative emotions from feeling judged based on race, gender, or income. Leads to decreased well-being (Clark et al., 2009; Williams & Mohammed, 2009).

62. Social Interaction (Stress Factor) – Lack of human connection increases stress. Social interaction (including with pets) reduces stress and supports health (Allen, 2003; John-Henderson et al., 2015).

63. Recovery Activities – Relaxing activities that help people disengage from work-related stress, such as watching movies, sleeping, or spending time in nature (Fritz et al., 2024).

Health Psychology in Practice:

64. “What’s in a Color?” – Australia and the UK require cigarette packaging to use an unappealing color (Pantone 448C) to reduce smoking by linking the product to health dangers (Blakemore, 2016).

65. “Beyond the Now” Thinking – College students who plan for their future are more likely to engage in healthy habits like exercise and mindful eating (Baird et al., 2021).

66. Animal Therapy – Using animals in therapy helps reduce stress, especially in crisis management situations (Allen, 2003; Rancilio, 2020).

#2

Stress and Coping Psychology Notes (continued):

67. Coping – The cognitive, behavioral, and emotional strategies used to manage stressors. Coping begins with an appraisal of the stressor.

68. Primary Appraisal – The evaluation of how an event will affect you (e.g., irrelevant, positive, or threatening).

69. Secondary Appraisal – The evaluation of how to respond to a stressor, including resources and perceived ability to cope.

70. Richard Lazarus – Proposed that stress is based on a person’s perception of the stressor, not the stressor itself.

71. Type A Personality – Identified by Friedman and Rosenman; includes traits like competitiveness, impatience, and hostility. Associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

72. Type B Personality – Characterized by a more relaxed, patient, and non-aggressive temperament. Linked to lower risk of heart disease.

73. Type D Personality ("Distress") – Involves high levels of worry, negative emotions, and social inhibition. Linked to worse heart disease outcomes (O’Riordan et al., 2023).

74. Hardiness – A resilient personality trait linked to effective stress management. Defined by three Cs: commitment, control, and challenge (Kobasa, 1979).

75. Secondary Trauma – Psychological distress from witnessing others' trauma. Lower in individuals high in hardiness (Vagni et al., 2020).

76. Personal Control – The belief that one has influence over events and outcomes. Greater personal control is linked to better mental and physical health (Langer & Rodin, 1976).

77. Locus of Control – Concept by Julian Rotter (1966). Refers to beliefs about where control over events resides:

Internal Locus: Belief that outcomes result from one’s own actions.
External Locus: Belief that outcomes result from external forces like luck or fate.

78. 1970 British Cohort Study – Found that children with an internal locus of control were healthier, exercised more, and had fewer psychological problems as adults (Gale et al., 2008).

79. Alcohol Avoidance (Case Example: Kaynen) – Exposure to alcohol-related trauma in ER settings led to voluntary lifelong abstinence from alcohol.

80. Two Types of Coping: — Problem-Focused Coping . Emotion-Focused Coping

81. Problem-Focused Coping – A coping strategy that involves taking direct action to confront or solve a stressor (e.g., seeking help, making a plan).

82. Emotion-Focused Coping – A coping strategy that involves managing emotional responses to a stressor rather than addressing the stressor itself (e.g., venting, exercising, distraction).

83. Best Uses of Each Strategy –

Problem-focused coping is generally more effective for long-term adjustment.
Emotion-focused coping may be more helpful for situations with no clear solution (e.g., loss, grief).

Side. Notes

Student Stress Scale

100

total… 168